GLOBAL - ING lost a total €8.9bn of assets under management in the second quarter - "shaved" by market declines and currency movements.

"Assets under management declined €8.9bn in the second quarter of 2006 to €546.2bn due to negative currency effects, which shaved €14.4bn off total assets under management," the banking group said in its interim report.

Lower equity markets had a negative impact of €5bn - although there was a net inflow of €10.5bn, up from €7bn in the first quarter.

ING Investment Management saw its total assets decline to €347.6bn from €356.1bn at the end of March.

Within the division, ING IM Europe saw its third-party assets decline by 3.1% to €84.2bn, despite a €600m inflow. ING IM's total institutional assets fell to €99bn from €101.1bn.

ING Real Estate's assets under management increased to €54.2bn from €52.5bn.

"Growth was driven by the investment management activities as investor appetite for property funds remained robust," ING said.

Overall, ING reported a 38.8% increase in net profit to €2bn.